


that which we call a rose

by ioncehadabrain



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Not Canon Compliant, babily ever after is patriarchy's propaganda conveniently stuffed into a myth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27027475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ioncehadabrain/pseuds/ioncehadabrain
Summary: (... whose thorns by any other name would sting as bad.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke
Kudos: 1





	that which we call a rose

She did not tell him, but for a long time after his return and release from jail, she avoided him, because she did not know how to address him. In theory, it should be easy enough to slide back into the pattern of the good old days, like folding clothes by their veteran creases, and call him, “Sasuke-kun.” But she thought that would be self-delusional and sad- sad, mostly because it was a delusion; after all, they had both changed in ways irreversible during their years living without each other. She did not know this person and she should not reduce him to the person she used to know and used to wish that he would or could be. For his part, it was only very recently that he had been stripped of his sole drive to survive, his whole identity as he believed it to be had crumbled to naught, thus, slapping on him a label built on past impressions no longer true would be unfair, especially in this moment, or really, just ever. This left her with a range of choices, all of which involved and evolved from getting rid of the endearing “-kun” suffix. “Sasuke-san?” “Sasuke,” plain, old “Sasuke?” “Uchiha-san,” even. But it would just be wrong, wouldn’t it? “Sasuke,” the person called and prayed into existence on the roll of her tongue, in the breath from her lips, without a “-kun” trailing behind, sweetly, always, even in darkest moments when she thought she could never forgive him: this “Sasuke,” once summoned, would only grind deeper into the fabric of the present reality how far they were now from what they used to be, and while she was no longer of the opinion that she should hold onto the hope that either of them could wish the other to be by their side, she loved him anyway. It had been so long that she couldn’t even call it a habit, it had become a part of what made her, when she came to think about herself. Getting rid of that now would benefit neither of them- her, mostly; him? She could only guess, since, if anything, to him it probably shouldn’t make much of a difference, hardly anything did. Sticking to the old ways, at the same time, couldn’t do any harms, because it was now deprived of the damning implication it used to have when she was twelve and cried on the sidewalk, honest and blatant with her emotions, as honest as the day was long: the implication that she could throw herself away, for an idea burning on love. In the end, it all came down to- what? That, attempting to separate between the “present” and the “past” by crucifying a term of endearment was by itself a lost cause, and while she could not speak in his stead whether or not he cared about the way a name was called, what it carried, and if it mattered, she did. So, when Sakura, after a long time, at her own pace, finally showed up to find him, Sasuke heard her say, “Sasuke-kun.” Like not a year had passed since their genin days.

**Author's Note:**

> My take on these kids pre-2018 god when did Naruto even end did it ever end or has it been incorporated forever into our state of mind-
> 
> Anyway, two threads on Weibo inspired me to dig this one up. The former involved a recent incident in mainland China, where a 50-something matron got scammed by a person on the internet claiming to be her favorite TV star actor, and the public (the part with girls and women who listen, anyway) came to her defense, pointing out middle-aged women obsessing over an idol the way young girls and women do and are condemned for is yet another cry of how deprived of love and recognition they are. The latter, arguably evolving from the former, posed a question for girls and women, asking if they could go back in time and meet their mother at her 18, what would they tell her? To which one of the overwhelming responses seems to have sprung from a kind of resentful regret, worded along the line of un-doing their life as mother and wife: don't marry my father; make more friends; live the life you've always wanted, only 20 years earlier from now; don't make sacrifices at your own expense in the name of family; don't quit school; etc. etc. At the same time, a trending reply headed, sort of, into the opposite direction: "I would tell my mom to marry my dad and give birth to me, all the same! At first it wouldn't be easy, financially, but dad would treat you well, and you would have a smart, considerate daughter, and then a bright, sweet, adorable granddaughter. In your later years, for so many, you would become an object of admiration." 
> 
> As I scrolled through these threads and found myself vindictively agreeing with one while scoffing at the other, I remembered Sakura, when she used to be 12: how it seems to have been a crime, her crime alone, for being plain happy, among so many of her peers marked forever with tragedies of killing and blood debts. I used to resent people for taking it out on Sakura, just because she happened to grow up normal and just- happy: Sasuke, especially, I used to disapprove of with a passion. But now that I have known that give it time, Leo Tolstoy's version of reality would line up with mine, eventually: after all, happiness all looks the same, it isn't a crime, but for Sasuke, and for so many, it is unfathomable, because they are unhappy. 
> 
> So I dug this up and let it be my canon again.


End file.
